The present invention generally relates to extended neckwear. More specifically, this invention relates to means for holding extended neckwear, for example, a four-in-hand type necktie, in alignment with the buttons at the front of a shirt or blouse having front-buttoned closure means.
Extended neckwear is a basic component of business and non-casual dress. Millions are worn each day. A recurring problem for the wearers of extended neckwear is control of the neckwear when worn. Neckties blow in the wind, are stained by falling into the wearer's food or into the washbowl when the wearer washes his/her hands, and shift about the wearer's neck resulting in a rumpled and disheveled appearance. A well-groomed wearer constantly fidgets with the necktie to keep it laying straight along the front of the shirt or blouse which results in additional staining of the necktie from particles embedded on the fingertips. Furthermore, a loose necktie often crawls outwardly from a tucked position within a coat or jacket necessitating constant handling of the necktie or stuffing of the necktie into the pants or skirt of the wearer.
These problems associated with extended neckwear have long been recognized and a variety of neckwear attachments such as necktie clips and necktie pins have been disclosed in the prior art to provide means for holding neckwear in a stationary position. A particular problem with many of these types of neckwear attachments is the material fatigue caused by their gripping or invasive means of engaging the neckwear and the body of the wearer's shirt or blouse. Another problem with many of the necktie clips and pins known in the prior art is that their utility is limited by their ornamental design or color which may clash with certain neckwear colors and print patterns. Also, metallic coated necktie clips and pins of inferior quality often peel and stain the necktie with metallic particles. Furthermore, necktie clips and pins are often lost because they are not permanently attached to the neckwear. Conventional necktie clips and pins also restrict simple vertical movements of the necktie because of their non-adjustable holding means.
In addition to the necktie clips and pins which attach to the body of the wearer's shirt, tie holder means are disclosed in the prior art which attach to the button of the wearer's shirt. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,029,597 to Thomas a tie holder is disclosed comprising a holding member adapted to pass around the necktie which includes a fixedly attached tab having a buttonhole which engages a button of the wearer's shirt. The holding member of the Thomas tie holder can be seen when worn and thus many of the problems of conventional tie clasps and the tie pins persist. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,793,681 to Casstevens et al. a necktie holder is disclosed which is not visible when worn and which accommodates vertical movement of the necktie, said necktie holder including button anchoring means and an elongated clamp which engages the necktie folds of the forepart of the necktie. The Casstevens invention is not fixedly attached to the necktie and thus can be lost or misplaced and the use of this necktie holder requires that the clamp penetrate the necktie or be aligned with the displaced portion of the folds between stitches. During normal wear this necktie holder will cause wear on the necktie fold stitches and thereby destroy the integrity of the necktie. Furthermore, the imprint of the clamp may be visible when used with a necktie constructed of silk or other soft material.
Necktie holding means that are fixedly attached to the necktie are also disclosed in the prior art. In U.S. Pat. No. 1,434,797 to Shannon there is disclosed a necktie fastener comprising a substantially rectangular piece of fabric fixedly attached to the rear face of the forepart of the necktie having a buttonhole formed therein for engagement with a button of the shirt or blouse of the wearer. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,813,273 to Schreter a four-in-hand necktie is disclosed having a loop member attached to the rear face of the forepart of the necktie for removable receipt of the rearpart of the necktie, said rearpart including a group of equally spaced buttonholes for engagement with a button of the shirt or blouse of the wearer. For the Shannon and Schreter inventions to be functional the buttonholes in each must align horizontally with a button of the wearer's shirt or blouse. It should be noted that each time a necktie is tied the forepart and rearpart do not always extend for the same length and thus a fixedly attached button engagement device will not always fall in alignment with a button of the wearer's shirt or blouse. Furthermore, the various body sizes of wearers do not lend themselves to a standard array of buttonholes. Thus for different wearers and oftentimes for the same wearer the buttonholes will not be aligned with a button of the shirt or blouse and thus cannot be engaged therewith. Both the Shannon and Schreter disclosures fail to provide means to address the problem of misalignment of the buttonhole of the device and the button of the wearer's shirt or blouse.
Various necktie holding means in the prior art have however disclosed means to engage necktie fastener means with a button of the shirt or blouse when the two are not perfectly aligned. In U.S. Pat. No. 875,246 to Davies a necktie is disclosed having a plurality of independent button retaining devices, for example elastic loops, fixedly attached in vertical alignment to the rear face of the forepart of the necktie for engagement with a button of the wearer's shirt or blouse. In U.S. Pat. No 1,291,090 to Nuzum a necktie is disclosed having a transversely extending cloth bar which is selectively attachable to the wearer's shirt or blouse by means of a strip of cloth fixedly attached to said cloth bar having means for attachment to the wearer's shirt or blouse. The strip of cloth is wound about the cloth bar to selectively align the attachment means with the button of the wearer's shirt or blouse. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,738,513 to Carty a necktie holder is disclosed wherein a detachably securable fastening unit engages a fabric strip fixedly attached to the necktie, said fastening unit having a button fixedly attached to an elastic cord, said cord engaging the button of the wearer's shirt or blouse and the button of the fastening unit engaging a buttonhole formed in the fabric strip.
Another approach in the prior art to resolving the problem of misaligned button and button fastener means is the utilization of a vertically extending slot for engagement of a button on the wearer's shirt or blouse. U.S. Pat. No. 3,474,503 to Less discloses an attaching device for a necktie which includes a slotted tie anchor body which attaches to the rear face of the forepart of the necktie and receives a button of the wearer's shirt or blouse within the slot of the anchor body. When the button is received within the slot of the anchor body, the necktie and attached anchor body are permitted to move up and down on the button during vertical movement of the necktie. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,827,536 to Sung a necktie is disclosed having a meshed slot formed in the rearpart of the necktie which engages a button of the wearer's shirt or blouse. The rearpart is held in close proximity to the forepart of the necktie by means of a transverse loop fixedly attached to the rear face of the forepart of the necktie. In a further embodiment of the Sung invention a vertically disposed loop is attached to the transverse loop to support a button holder in slideable engagement, said button holder being provided for engagement with a button of the wearer's shirt or blouse. The button holder is double-sided to permit selective engagement of a shirt or blouse button by inverting the vertically disposed loop about the transverse loop. While the button holder embodiment of the Sung invention eliminates problems of the mesh being pulled when the button and mesh aperture are not perfectly aligned, the button holder of this invention will not maintain the lower portion of the forepart of the necktie in close proximity to the front of the shirt or blouse and thus will not prevent staining problems associated with a necktie falling in food, a washbowl and the like. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,827,576 to Prince a necktie attachment is disclosed comprising a vertically-slotted base member formed from a resilient material having a greater relative stiffness than the material of a necktie which preferably attaches to a necktie label loop and engages a button of the wearer's shirt or blouse within the slot of the base member. Affixation of the attachment to a label loop is not a stable attachment means because many label loops are loosely sewn to the forepart of the necktie. Also, label loops are attached to a necktie at various vertical positions along the length of the forepart, sometimes even being vertically disposed instead of transversely disposed, and thus no standard positioning of the attachment can be attained by utilizing this device. Furthermore, many label loops are too narrow to permit secure attachment of the Prince device. It should also be noted that the cantilevered attachment of the Prince invention permits the necktie to be displaced from the wearer's body for some distance which may not prevent some necktie staining as heretofore mentioned. In addition, the cantilevered attachment will only lay close to the wearer's body if he/she has a flat stomach and unfortunately many necktie wearers do not possess such a physique. A further difficulty with the slotted necktie holders of the prior art is their use of slotted members formed from relatively stiff material. While these necktie holders are attachable to the necktie in such a manner that they will not be visible from the front of the necktie, the wearer will be cognizant of their presence because of the stiff material utilized, adding to his/her psychological discomfort with these garment fastener means.
A combination sash tie and sash tie holder is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,190,904 to Nelson which is fixedly attached to a wearer's shirt or blouse by means of commercially available hook and loop tape. No means to adjust the point of attachment is disclosed in the Nelson invention.
Thus there remains a need for an aftermarket means to retain a necktie in a stationary position in vertical alignment with the front buttons of a wearer's shirt or blouse which is vertically adjustable, can be worn unseen, lays in smooth and close conformity with the body of the wearer, has a stable attachment means, can be universally attached to new and existing neckties, and prevents the material fatigue associated with conventional necktie clips and pins.